Chocolate improved blood flow in legs, helped people walk farther
OK! SO THIS IS NOT REALLY MS RELATED BUT???
Mary McDermott, MD, the Jeremiah Stamler Professor of Medicine and lead author of the study, found cocoa improved walking distance in patients with peripheral artery disease.
Drinking flavanol-rich cocoa three times a day improved walking distance in individuals with peripheral artery disease (PAD), reports a new Northwestern Medicine pilot study published in Circulation Research.
PAD affects about 8.5 million people in the U.S.; people with PAD have blockages in their arteries that slow or stop the blood flood flow to their legs. As a result, they have pain and difficulty walking even short distances.
“The degree of improvement from chocolate was significant and meaningful,” said lead author Mary McDermott, MD, the Jeremiah Stamler Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics and a Northwestern Medicine physician. “Exercise currently is the most effective medical therapy for PAD. In this study, the benefits from chocolate were comparable to the benefits of exercise.”
McDermott stressed the trial of 44 people was a small sample size, and a larger clinical trial is needed to confirm the findings.
OK! SO THIS IS NOT REALLY MS RELATED BUT???
Mary McDermott, MD, the Jeremiah Stamler Professor of Medicine and lead author of the study, found cocoa improved walking distance in patients with peripheral artery disease.
Drinking flavanol-rich cocoa three times a day improved walking distance in individuals with peripheral artery disease (PAD), reports a new Northwestern Medicine pilot study published in Circulation Research.
PAD affects about 8.5 million people in the U.S.; people with PAD have blockages in their arteries that slow or stop the blood flood flow to their legs. As a result, they have pain and difficulty walking even short distances.
“The degree of improvement from chocolate was significant and meaningful,” said lead author Mary McDermott, MD, the Jeremiah Stamler Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics and a Northwestern Medicine physician. “Exercise currently is the most effective medical therapy for PAD. In this study, the benefits from chocolate were comparable to the benefits of exercise.”
McDermott stressed the trial of 44 people was a small sample size, and a larger clinical trial is needed to confirm the findings.
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